The present disclosure relates generally to liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and, more particularly, to LCDs that employ column inversion.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present techniques, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Electronic displays appear in many different electronic devices. One type of electronic display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), displays images by varying the amount of light passing through colored pixels (typically red, green, and blue pixels) using a layer of liquid crystal material. Pixels may be driven with particular voltages, causing the liquid crystal material to change orientation, thereby varying the amount of light passing through the pixel. The liquid crystal layer could become biased, however, if the voltages applied to a pixel are consistently of a single polarity (i.e., + or −). Biasing could disadvantageously alter the light transmission characteristics of an LCD.
Periodically inverting the driving voltages may prevent liquid crystal biasing. Whole-frame inversion, however, could introduce other artifacts. Accordingly, inversion schemes such as “dot inversion” or “column inversion” have been developed that may prevent biasing while avoiding artifacts caused by whole-frame inversion. Dot inversion typically involves driving all adjacent pixels of an LCD at opposite polarities and inverting these polarities on a frame-by-frame basis. Although dot inversion may prevent liquid crystal biasing, dot inversion may significantly increase the complexity of the driving circuitry. Column inversion is less complex and generally prevents biasing in a similar way as dot inversion. Unlike dot inversion, column inversion typically involves driving whole columns of pixels at the same polarity and inverting these polarities occasionally (e.g., on a frame-by-frame basis). Both dot inversion and column inversion generally may reduce the appearance of visual artifacts on the LCD caused by biasing. Performing these techniques, however, may consume a substantial amount of power. Moreover, LCD inversion schemes can produce crosstalk between neighboring pixels, reducing light transmittance in those pixels.
Aside from liquid crystal biasing, other potential problems may affect LCDs. Color reproduction, for instance, may vary from LCD to LCD. Such differences in color reproduction may arise from color variations in backlight elements (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)), the light-diffusing components of backlight assemblies, and/or differences individual display panels. Ideally, the white point—the color emitted by the LCD when the LCD is programmed to display the color white—should be the same for all LCDs used in a type of electronic device. Under some circumstances, the white point may be adjusted through software processing before image data is sent to the LCD. Although effective, adjusting the white point in software may cause a loss of image data information.